Revision as of 23:42, 2 June 2013

Sami is a group of languages spoken by some of the Sami peoples who dwell in Northwestern Europe. This region consists of the central and northern parts of Norway and Sweden, Northwestern Finland, and the Kola Peninsula in Russia. There are nine living Sami languages. Northern Saami, the most spoken Sami language and one used in this phrasebook, is spoken mainly in Northern Norway, Sweden, and parts of Finland. It is used often in cities and towns such as Kiruna (Giron) and Karasjok (Karasjohká). It is a Finno-Ugric language which has some linguistic similarities with Finnish and Karelian, though these languages are not muturally understandable. In general, the nine Sami languages are not mutually intelligible, which is why they are different languages, not dialects.